Tariff Business Simulation + AI Roleplays Help  Show Business Impacts

When tariffs hit (or don’t hit and then hit again), the impact isn’t always immediately clear, but the consequences can be significant. One of our consumer-packaged goods (CPG) clients recently found themselves in this tough situation. Their supply chain team was dealing with escalating costs from new international tariffs, but they couldn’t fully grasp how those changes were affecting the rest of the business, or how to build internal alignment around the best response.

To bridge that gap, we partnered with them to create a dynamic learning experience that combined business simulation with AI-powered roleplay exercises to emulate having very challenging conversations. The focus was on helping learners gain a clearer understanding of how tariffs impact a business and what it may take to respond to these increased costs.

Step One: What Levers to  Pull? 

We started with a customized version of our Arctic Nest Tariff Business Simulation. Arctic Nest is a fictional baby care products company. In the simulation, small teams of participants stepped into the shoes of supply chain leaders tasked with managing sudden cost increases resulting from global tariffs on imported materials.

Learners had to make trade-offs across sourcing, pricing, and cost management, all while tracking the impact of their decisions on margin, customer demand, and long-term viability. We also built in short learning videos to help participants better understand key concepts and terms like Cost of Goods Sold and Gross Margin.

Step Two: Practice the Conversation with AI

Understanding the business levers was only part of the solution. The client also wanted their teams to develop the confidence and skills to navigate complex supplier negotiations, something many hadn’t formally trained for.

We then used our Praction® AI Role Play Tool to create a scenario where learners engaged in a simulated conversation with a supplier to negotiate how to share the burden of the tariff-driven cost increases. The AI persona responded in real time, adapting to each learner’s tone, approach, and strategy, offering immediate feedback based on a skills rubric focused on influence, clarity, and partnership-building.

The short learning videos, simulation, and AI practice created a powerful Learn, Apply, Practice methodology:

• The videos built skills and presented a simple introduction to business concepts
• The simulation gave learners a chance to apply learning and see how tariff-related decisions play out across the full business system.
• The AI scenario helped them practice skills like negotiation and communication to address cost pressures collaboratively, not combatively.

Summary

While tariffs may come and go, there will always be something new that pops up that will impact businesses and people. That’s why we need the agility to shift training priorities fast. The good news? Today’s tools, like simulation and AI, can make that possible quickly and cost-effectively, which will allow your teams to stay ready, relevant, and confident no matter what’s around the corner.